LAS VEGAS (AP) — Bruce Cassidy acknowledged between Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final that his Vegas Golden Knights’ power play has been hit or miss all season.
It’s hitting now like players in a high-stakes game of blackjack — and has Vegas two wins from the Stanley Cup.
The Golden Knights got two more power-play goals Monday in their 7-2 rout of the Florida Panthers in Game 2, with Jonathan Marchessault cashing in for his team-record 11th goal of the playoffs and Brett Howden adding another in the final minutes. Marchessault also scored on the power play in the series-opening win Saturday.
Dating to the Western Conference final-clinching victory against Dallas, which players and Cassidy have called arguably their best performance of the season, Vegas has scored on the power play in three consecutive games for the first time since late December.
Of all the things that powered the Golden Knights through the first three rounds, the power play was not chief among them. They scored just 10 times on 54 opportunities, an 18.5% success rate that was ninth-best of the 16 teams that qualified for the playoffs.
That was strong evidence of Vegas getting offense at even strength. The Golden Knights’ 50 goals at 5-on-5 entering the final were by far the most of anyone this postseason.
There’s still plenty where that came from: Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy and Howden all scored at even strength, chasing Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky midway through Game 2, and the Golden Knights added two more 5-on-5 goals for good measure in the third period against Alex Lyon. Martinez’s goal also gave Vegas three goals from defensemen this series after it got a total of three from them through the first 17 games of the playoffs.
It’s a different recipe than series against Winnipeg, Edmonton and Dallas, but it’s working so far. The success getting the power play going and shots through screens and past Bobrovsky is a testament to Cassidy and his staff making important adjustments against a different opponent.
Florida got through the East despite having the fourth-worst penalty kill of the playoffs. That has not improved much, and as a result the Panthers have a deep hole to climb out of with the series shifting to Florida for Games 3 and 4 on Thursday and Saturday.
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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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